Sock rack



Jan. 26, 1960 D. E. CARLSON SOCK RACK Filed Oct. 12, 1956 INVENTORATTORNEYS United States Patent SOCK RACK Duane E. Carlson, South'Milwaukee, Wis. Application October 12, 1956, Serial No. 615,630 2Claims. (Cl. 211-89) This invention relates to a novel rack intendedprimarily for yieldably holding a plurality of pairs of socks rolledinto ball form after laundering, and for exposing the socks to view topermit easy selection of a pair to be Worn at any time. However, theinvention is not limited to the holding of socks and may be employed forholding various other yieldable articles, for example, scarves, towels,gloves, ties and belts.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, attractiveand novel rack which may be mounted on a door, a wall or other supportin a vertical position, a horizontal position, or other position, or maysimply rest on a floor or a piece of furniture in a tilted position andwill accessibly hold the desired articles in orderly manner.

Another object is to provide a novel rack composed of two end bracketsand a series of laterally spaced rods extending substantiallymiddirectionally between said brackets.

A further object is to so locate the two rods at the sides of the seriesas to allow easy insertion and removal of articles, and to so locate anintervening rod as to limit the insertion of the articles.

A still further object is to provide a novel construction which permitsmounting of the brackets and rods on a panel at the factory, or allowsshipment and sale in disassembled form for easy assembly and mounting bythe purchaser.

Yet another object is to provide a simple and inexpensive constructionwhich can be expeditiously manufactured and profitably sold at areasonable price.

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the preferred form of the inventionin use;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation partly broken away and in section showingthe same form of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in end elevation and partly in section, on line3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing a different form of construction;

Fig. 5 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section, on line5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a view partly in end elevation and partly in section, on line66 of Fig. 4.

The constructions shown in the drawings will be rather specificallydescribed but it is to be understood that variations may well be made.As examples, the rods may be straight or zig-zag, solid or tubular, onepiece or telescopic, and may have either plain or artistically shapedsurfaces. Also, the end brackets need not be of the exact shapes shown,and these brackets, as well as the rods, may be constructed from anysuitable metal or from a modern plastic. Also, when the rack includes aback panel, this panel may be of any desired shape and formed frommetal, wood or plastic.

In Figs. 1 to 3, a back panel 10 is provided with a suspending loop 11to be hung upon a hook or the like 12 and it may be considered that saidpanel is formed :from ply-wood and provided with a metal edge binding13.

"2 An upper horizontal bracket plate 14.and a lower horizontal bracketplate are provided with attaching flanges 15 and 15a,-respectively,-theflange 15 being preferably directed downwardlyand the flange 1512directed upwardly. The "flanges are secured'to the panel 10 by screwsor'the like 16.

Betweenthe upperand lower bracket plates 14 and 14a, there is provided aseries of laterally spaced vertical rods, a series of three equallyspaced rods being preferred. The two rods 17 at the sides of the seriesare spaced uniformly from the panel 10, and the intervening central rod18 is spaced a shorter distance from said panel.

The rods 17 and 18 may be permanently or detachably connected with thebracket plates 14 and 14a. These rods have been shown as having reducedends 19 received in openings 20 in the plates 14 and 15. Thisfacilitates assembly at the factory, or by the purchaser if the rack beshipped and sold in disassembled condition.

The spacing of the rods 17 from the panel 10 is such that pairs of socksrolled into balls may be readily forced between said rods and said panelto the limit dictated by the control rod 18. For illustrative purposessix pairs of rolled socks are indicated at B but the rack would obviously hold a greater number.

In Figs. 4 to 6, an upper bracket plate 14b and a lower bracket plate14c are secured flat against a back panel 10a by rivets or the like 16a,and it may be considered that said back panel 10a is of sheet metal.

Rods 17a and 18a have rearwardly bent ends 21 suitably secured at 22 tothe plates 14b and 14c, the portions 23 of said plates, to which the rodends are secured, being preferably forwardly olfset as shown. The rods17a and 18a are related with each other in the same manner as the rods17 and 18.

From the foregoing it will be seen that novel provision has beendisclosed for attaining the desired ends. However, attention is againinvited to the possibility of making variations as to structure,materials, and use. Also, it will be understood that a back panel neednot be supplied with the end brackets and rods, leaving it to thepurchaser to mount said brackets upon any support which he may prefer.

I claim:

1. A rack for attachment to a planar supporting surface, including apair of spaced end plates having flat portions for attachment to saidplanar surface, said flat portions being in a common plane, at leastthree laterally spaced rod means secured to and extending substantiallyunidirectionally between said spaced end plates parallel to the plane ofsaid flat portions, said rod means. being fixed by said end platesagainst relative lateral movement, the outer two of said rod means beingspaced from the plane of said flat portions and attached to Said endplates adjacent the ends thereof, and the inner rod means being spaced alesser distance from the plane of said flat portions than the outer tworod means, whereby yieldable articles may be inserted from either sidefor the full length of said rack to be yieldably held between the rodmeans and the planar supporting surface to which the flat portions areattached, the inner of said rod means serving to limit the movement ofsaid articles in the direction of insertion.

2. A rack for yieldable articles, including a supporting panel of largerarea than the dimensions of the rack, a pair of spaced end platesattached to said panel, at least three laterally spaced rod meanssecured to and extending substantially unidirectionally between saidspaced end plates, said rod means being fixed by said end plates againstrelative lateral movement, the outer two of said rod means being spacedfrom said panel and the inner rod means being spaced a lesser distancefrom the said panel than the outer two rod means, whereby yieldablearticles may be inserted from either side for the full length of saidrack to be yieldably held between the rod means and the panel, the innerof said rod means serving to limitthe movement of said articles in thedirection of insertion.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS RaabJuly 9, 1918 Harrod Mar. 22, 1927 Hackley Oct. 29, 1929 Feerick Dec. 20,1949 Fenzl Oct. 10, 1950 Hornick Aug. 12, 1952 Smith Sept. 30, 1952FOREIGN PATENTS France Apr. 21, 1903

